Development Capital has announced the completion of a €10 million investment in Cork headquartered Zartis, a fast growing and leading technology services company, focused on delivering high-value strategic advisory and bespoke software development solutions to clients globally.

It is the 14th investment by Development Capital and first in both Cork and Munster, bringing the total value of its investments in Irish SMEs to date to €120 million. The investment in Zartis is the fifth by Development Capital Fund II, a €75 million fund. The other four investments are Spotlight Oral Care (Galway), Nomadic (Donegal), Wogan Build Centre (Louth) and IP Telecom (Dublin).

The €10 million investment will be used to accelerate Zartis’ international growth opportunities within the rapidly growing technology services sector, with the ambition to more than double in size to over €50 million in revenues and 500 employees by 2028, as well as significantly invest in its AI practice with a number of senior AI hires in order to satisfy the current and future demand. As part of the investment, Development Capital executives Fran Stafford and Andrew Bourg will join the board of Zartis.

Headquartered in Cork Ireland and led by CEO Padraig Coffey, Zartis has an expanding international presence with offices and employees in Spain, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, UK and Czech Republic. Employing a diverse and committed workforce of over 280 highly skilled professionals (“Zartisians”) across Europe who deploy on a global basis.

Employee-Centric Business Model
The Zartis business model is based on a strong culture of integrity, diversity, ownership, innovation and high-quality work. Throughout its evolution, employee-ownership has remained a core principle of the business, which is majority owned by Zartisians.

Zartis’ two key service pillars are: i) Digital Services – focused on delivering best-in-class software development for customers; and ii) High-Level Consulting (“HLC”) – a high-value strategic advisory service.

Zartis has scaled rapidly, reporting consistent double-digit annual growth rates and qualifying as a Deloitte Fast50 company consecutively for each of the past 5 years. Through continuously expanding its customer base, Zartis now provides digital services to over 80 customers in more than 25 industries across North America, Europe and the Middle East and has established deep expertise in high-growth sectors including FinTech, EdTech, Logistics, EcoTech and MedTech. Examples of customers include ESW, Fexco, Kaluza, Forto.

Due to increasing demand and market opportunities, Zartis is forecasting continued double-digit growth and sees AI automation as a key growth driver of the business. The company’s new AI service offering, which is in high demand, is designed to help companies by providing them with guidelines on how to leverage AI wisely to increase their productivity and efficiency.

Announcing the new investment for Development Capital Fund II Andrew Bourg Development Capital Partner and Co-Founder said: “We are really looking forward to partnering with the Zartis leadership team - Padraig, Angel, Laura and Richard - as well as the senior management team to assist them in accelerating and achieving their growth plans. From our due diligence and research, we see strong market trends supporting Zartis’ growth plan driven in-part by increasing demand for the digitalisation of business processes and a shortage of IT skills. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are also expected to accelerate growth within the market.”
“We are also delighted to complete our first investment in Cork. Munster is a stronghold of established, mid-sized, and profitable indigenous SMEs. Having a portfolio company along with our Cork-based Investment Director, Fran Stafford further enhances our ability to partner with such SMEs in the region.”

Addressing the investment alignment with Development Capital Fund II, Fran Stafford Investment Director of Development Capital commented: “We have a long-standing interest in Zartis based on the culture, ambition and values of the Zartis leadership team, the historic growth achieved to date, as well as both the current and projected market trends in its sector. We are strongly aligned with and supportive of the objectives of the leadership team to execute the growth plan, which has at its core, a culture of promoting employee empowerment, ownership and ambition, all of which will maximise growth. Our intention is to assist the team to grow a bigger and enhanced Zartis which is recognised as an employer of choice in its sector.”

Padraig Coffey, CEO of Zartis said: “The technology services industry is at an inflection point with the massive growth in AI opportunities, and the investment from Development Capital in Zartis will help catalyse further rapid expansion of the business in the years ahead. Development Capital has a tremendous track record in helping high quality and ambitious businesses fulfil their potential and we believe the team is an excellent fit for the unique culture we have built at Zartis. We’re delighted to welcome Fran Stafford and Andrew Bourg to the board at Zartis, as they have the vision and expertise to help us take the company to a whole other level.”

Development Capital’s investment model is based on backing Irish SME management teams by providing them with both the funding and experience to unlock and accelerate their growth potential